Shohei Ohtani, the 31-year-old Japanese baseball play recently named MVP in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for the third year in a row, after clinging a second consecutive title with Los Angeles Dodgers, has confirmed his participation for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in 2026, the equivalent of the Baseball World Cup, organised by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), governing body of baseball.
Ohtani confirmed on Monday through social media his participation for the Japanese team in the competition taking place between March 5 and 17, 2026, in Japan, Puerto Rico, and United States. Japan has dominated the World Baseball Classic since the international tournament took its current iteration in 2006, winning three titles, including the most recent edition in 2023, where Ohtani was named MVP, facing United States.
It is still unclear if Ohtani will hit and also pitch for the Japanese team, as he suffered an elbow injury and only returned to the mound last June. But in the 158 regular-season games he played this year for the Dodgers, he batted .282 and made 55 home runs.